Two Words

One word to describe my life: busy.

Wait, can I have two words? Because that one word doesn't tell the whole story.

My second word to describe my life: blessed.

Busy, but blessed.

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Mobilization is now a team. It is at least a duo, a pretty dynamic duo, if I do say so myself.

Meet Trevor Allen. He joins me now in Ecuador as a fellow mobi, straight from Ohio, via Puno, Peru where he worked as a 40/40.

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We are seeing so much progress in Ecuador as we cast the Extreme vision. We now have five approved 40/40s following our November 10th interviews. And honestly, we have more candidates than we know what to do with, which, I must say, is the best problem EVER!

We are now gearing up for the next round of interviews, which will take place in Guayaquil December 7th and 8th. It looks like we will have even more candidates to interview this time around!

As a matter of fact, it is worth mentioning that I will be traveling every weekend of December. This weekend, we will be speaking in a church in Riobamba. The following weekend interviews will take place in Guayaquil. The next weekend should take us to Santo Domingo to speak at another church, where one of our 40/40s is coming from. And finally, I will be headed home to the States for Christmas, and traveling to visit friends after. There won't be any dull moments for a while, which is just how I like it!

I love this job. The longer I am in Ecuador, the more I love this beautiful country. I am having the time of my life sharing my passion for missions, and seeing young people step up to follow the Lord, while the church steps up to support them. It really is an amazing privilege to be a part of what God is doing in South America through Extreme.

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Last week, the United States celebrated Thanksgiving, and we, too, celebrated here in Ecuador, a small group of expatriate friends gathering together to eat, and be thankful. And I am thankful. I thank God for bringing me here, for providing for me, for placing amazing people in my life, and for blessing me with a call to serve my Lord and Savior forever and always. I am blessed.

And because I am blessed, I want to be a blessing to others, all the days of my life.

God bless you friends, during this holiday season,
Cailyn

Twenty Three and Restless

Twenty-three.

I told a few people that I thoroughly expected to arise this morning to discover a face filled with wrinkles and a head of gray hairs, to match my now elderly stage of life.

Obviously, it didn't work that way.

But I did celebrate a wonderful birthday in Ecuador. And I realized that I have spent all of my twenties in South America.

I said that I would be celebrating my birthday all month this year. What that really entails is considering everything special, unusual, or exciting that happens in October to be specifically for my birthday. (Whether that is the case or not is IRRELEVANT.) So yesterday I had a "birthday pedicure" and tomorrow I am going out "for my birthday." Like I said, the fact that these events would take place whether it were my birthday or not just doesn't matter!

After awaking this morning and seeing there were still no wrinkles or grays to be found, I received a cinnamon roll from Shirley for breakfast, candle and all! Then I made myself a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice VIA (courtesy of Tyler and Amy Liebelt).

I had a fairly relaxing day, even treating myself to Oreos with Peanut Butter (courtesy of Rachel Kuhn!).

Tonight, I was taken out to dinner with the missionaries, and had a little party after, with delicious cake and ice cream!

I end the day feeling extremely blessed and spoiled.

And this afternoon, I began to listen to a playlist from my iTunes titled, "October"-- a playlist I created two years ago. Birthdays tend to make one nostalgic... It's funny how much has changed, and how much hasn't.

Because the first song of the playlist is Audrey Assad's, "Restless."

"And I'm restless, I'm restless until I rest in you, 'til I rest in you. 

Still my heart, hold me close 

Let me hear, a still small voice 

Let it grow, let it riseInto a shout, into a cry. 

And I'm restless, I'm restless until I rest in you, 'til I rest in you 

I wanna rest in you oh God."

And on this day I celebrate twenty-three years on this precious earth, that is how I feel.

"If our deepest desires cannot be satisfied in this world, then we must be made for another."

I know that the deepest desires of my heart are only truly satisfied in Kingdom Come. I am yearning for a Savior, longing for the day when all things are made new. When we finally reach the peak of what it means to know God, and exist in His presence.

I hope to have many more happy birthdays in this earth, but all the best moments of this life are only a shadow of what is to come. And I want to keep that in perspective as I really do develop wrinkles someday, and see so much more change in this life. I am restless until I rest with the Liberating King.

But thank you for helping make this birthday special.

Grace and peace,
Cailyn

Mobilizing Ecuador Doesn't Get Sweeter Than This

It is raining INCREDIBLY hard right now, probably the hardest rain storm I've seen in a very long time.

And I'm listening to Katie Herzig's song, "Sweeter Than This." 

And my life is pretty sweet right now. Besides the fact that I am not a big fan of rain, I am loving my life in Quito!

Rachel Kuhn spent four full days with me in Ecuador for a time of mobilization training.

And now the rain mixes with hail, making so much noise as it hits the roof, windows, and pavement. 

The thunder and hail are distracting as I attempt to put into words what the Lord has been doing these days in Ecuador.

And really, all words of the english language--or spanish for that matter-- are inadequate to describe the things God is putting into motion for his glory.

This is in Riobamba, where we have three candidates. It's okay if you're jealous.

I have now had meetings with six very strong 40/40 candidates. During one of my meetings with Rachel and three potential candidates on Monday, the passion was just bubbling out of the three young Ecuadorians.

Remember how I told you that right now, there are young people in South America with a call to serve the Lord as missionaries, but really have no opportunity to go? Well it is my job to give them the opportunity to fulfill their call to missions.

And I am incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to do that! And they are willingly responding to God's call on their lives.

So pray for these young people as they begin the application process. And pray that God will provide fifteen Ecuadorians who have answered the call by March 2013. Pray also that God would provide their funding.

Can't Comprehend

Take a minute to soak in these lyrics...

May we all fall more in love with the Almighty Liberating King today.

"Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty.
The whole earth is full of His glory."

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I can't comprehend your infinitely beautiful and perfect love
Oh I've dreamed dreams of majesty as brilliant as a billion stars
But they're never bright enough after all

You are Holy
Oh Holy
Holy, Holy, Holy

I will sing a song for you my God with everything I have in me
But it's never loud enough after all

You are Holy
Oh Holy
Holy, Holy, Holy

Heaven and earth are full, full of your glory, glory
My soul it overflows full of your glory, your glory
Oh blessed is he who reigns, full of your glory, your glory
My cup, it can't contain all of your glory, your glory
Hosanna we are found after all you are

Holy
Oh Holy
Holy, Holy, Holy

I can't comprehend
You're infinitely beautiful

First Love

Revelation 2:1-5

2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.

“You have forsaken your first love.”

The church in Ephesus was praised for “hard work and perseverance.”

You can do all kinds of work FOR God, but neglect to love Him, have a relationship with Him, and do it all BECAUSE of Him.

That’s pretty dangerous.

Especially for someone like me… You see, I am all to prone to being a workaholic. I like to be the Fix-It Girl, the girl with all the answers, the girl who gets stuff done.

And if I’m not careful, I end up making THAT my identity, instead of finding my identity in my First Love, Jesus Christ.

I love doing ministry. I have been on the mission field in South America for two and a half years, and I love my life. I don’t regret the decisions I’ve made that have brought me here, and I wouldn’t trade this life for anything.

BUT

I love DOING ministry so much that it is easy for me to neglect my First Love. I can get up in the morning and spend my days in evangelism and discipleship, without actually spending any time with my Savior and LORD. I can “persevere and endure hardships,” but I must repent of this: leaving my First Love.

There is a delicate balance here. Because we must LOVE the Lord, whether He chooses to use us or not. We must LOVE the Lord, whether He chooses to bless us or not. We must LOVE the Lord and live to bring glory to HIS name, even if our names are forgotten.

I don’t want to forsake my First Love. I want to care a whole lot more about His name than my own. I want to persevere, not for my own glory, but for His Kingdom.

Cost of Discipleship

Luke 14:25-35

25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even life itself—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

Following Jesus has a very high cost. We must love him so much that the love we have for any other person looks like hate in comparison.

A tough teaching from Jesus.

28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

…And a man who wants to build a building will first make sure he has enough money to complete the construction. He must count up the cost.

34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

The last couple of verses of this passage almost don’t seem to fit; Jesus starts talking about salt. If salt loses its saltiness, it is no longer good for anything, and must be thrown out. What is Jesus even talking about?

Passion, love, excitement, can be equated with saltiness. But in the (very long) narrow road, these feelings will not be enough. There has to be something else to it. There has to be a commitment that goes so much deeper. That even if we never received a single blessing from God, we would still follow Him, JUST BECAUSE OF WHO HE IS.

THIS is the cost.

Who HE IS comes first.

You should definitely listen to the above song, but better than the lyrics of RCE, I will leave you with some words of Jesus. I share them because they are convicting to me, and I need to examine myself as much as anyone else. 

The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) tend to have many similarities. So this passage may be similar to the above passage in Luke, but the way Jesus ends in is, well, scary. If not scary, at least something to be taken very seriously:

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. ³⁶ What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? ³⁷ Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? ³⁸ If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” --Mark 8:34-38

Profile of the Obsessed

I want to be a disciple. 

In the previous post, I shared Francis Chan's "Profile of the Lukewarm," and challenged us to do some self-examination. The following is Chan's "Profile of the Obsessed." 

To be completely obsessed with Jesus is to be a disciple. To love him above all else.

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People who are obsessed with Jesus…

• Give freely and openly without censure… love those who hate them and who can never pay them back.
• Aren’t consumed with their personal safety and comfort above all else…care more about God’s kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being shielded from pain or distress.
• Live lives that connect them with the poor in some way or another…believe that Jesus talked about money and the poor so often because it was really important to him.
• Are more concerned with obeying God than doing what is expected or fulfilling the status quo…will do things that don’t always make sense in terms of success or wealth on this earth.
• Know that the sin of pride is always a battle…know that you can never be “humble enough” and so they seek to make themselves less and Christ more known.
• Do not consider service a burden…take joy in loving God by loving His people.
• Are known as givers, not takers.
• Genuinely think that others matter as much as they do, and they are particularly aware of those who are poor around the world.
• Think about heaven frequently…orient their lives around eternity; they are not fixed only on what is here in front of them.
• Are characterized by committed, settled, passionate love for God, above and before every other thing and every other being.
• Are raw with God; they do not attempt to mask the ugliness of their sins or failures…don’t put it on for God; He is their safe place, where they can be at peace.
• Have an intimate relationship with God…are nourished by God’s Word throughout the day.
• Are more concerned with character than comfort…know that true joy doesn’t depend on circumstances or environment.
• Know that the best thing they can do is be faithful to their Savior in every aspect of life, continually saying, “Thank you!” to God…know there can never be intimacy if they are always trying to pay God back or work hard enough to be worthy…revel in their role as a child of God.